Chickafish
Well-Known Member
M'kay. So normally I consider myself pretty wise when it comes to products and the methods NSS use to apply to nails considering I used to work for one. But I was totally baffled at work trying to figure out what the heck was on my client's nails.
Initial inspection- It was just a regular french manicure/pedicure that needed redoing. Client confirms it she just had regular polish.
I tried to remove it. Took a bit of muscle to get it off. Noticed there was still some base on the plates, but they were cracked, and was not budging. I use just straight acetone for removal. Asked if they used anything else that would've involved her putting her hand under a UV lamp (pointing at my lamp as I explain) during the application process. She said no. She just went under one of those long drying units most NSS have buckled down to a long table after they finished polishing everything and left when it was dry. She said she doesn't get anything else but normal polish. (She's visiting the UK from Australia and said she wasn't keen on getting anything fancy in case it chipped so she could remove it herself) Puzzled, I continued on by just buffing the cracked mysterious base as smooth as possible and continued on with the service.
Tried to remove the French polish on her feet, same issue but twice as hard to remove. The whites budged a little easier than the pinks. I noticed the pinks just were NOT budging at all, and on the ones where I did manage to remove most of the product, there was that mysterious cracked base. She swore up and down she's never had gels or anything. I started thinking it could be shellac (fake or geniune... who knows with these places right?) but she said she never had shellac before or any type of gel polish. In fact, one of our conversation was regarding finding a legit nail tech for her to get properly shellac'd when she gets back home.
So anyway. Sorry for the long post, but has anyone ever stumbled across this ridiculously hard to remove "polish" or have any idea what it could be? (I did gently scratch the surface with my nail and it wasn't even rubbery like how their acrylics usually are. It was rock solid, very thinly applied, and cracks when acetone is swiped over it but it doesn't flake off. Needed to buff with a 180 to get most of it off.)
Initial inspection- It was just a regular french manicure/pedicure that needed redoing. Client confirms it she just had regular polish.
I tried to remove it. Took a bit of muscle to get it off. Noticed there was still some base on the plates, but they were cracked, and was not budging. I use just straight acetone for removal. Asked if they used anything else that would've involved her putting her hand under a UV lamp (pointing at my lamp as I explain) during the application process. She said no. She just went under one of those long drying units most NSS have buckled down to a long table after they finished polishing everything and left when it was dry. She said she doesn't get anything else but normal polish. (She's visiting the UK from Australia and said she wasn't keen on getting anything fancy in case it chipped so she could remove it herself) Puzzled, I continued on by just buffing the cracked mysterious base as smooth as possible and continued on with the service.
Tried to remove the French polish on her feet, same issue but twice as hard to remove. The whites budged a little easier than the pinks. I noticed the pinks just were NOT budging at all, and on the ones where I did manage to remove most of the product, there was that mysterious cracked base. She swore up and down she's never had gels or anything. I started thinking it could be shellac (fake or geniune... who knows with these places right?) but she said she never had shellac before or any type of gel polish. In fact, one of our conversation was regarding finding a legit nail tech for her to get properly shellac'd when she gets back home.
So anyway. Sorry for the long post, but has anyone ever stumbled across this ridiculously hard to remove "polish" or have any idea what it could be? (I did gently scratch the surface with my nail and it wasn't even rubbery like how their acrylics usually are. It was rock solid, very thinly applied, and cracks when acetone is swiped over it but it doesn't flake off. Needed to buff with a 180 to get most of it off.)